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Thermaltake Suppressor F51 Review

Thermaltake Suppressor F51: The Case

The F51 is a mid-tower that has a clean, simple, perhaps somewhat understated, appearance. The front is an exercise in "less is more." There are no wild louvered air intakes in the shape of snakes, no fins or LED fans, no dragons. Just a simple, flat, full length front door with what appears to be a brushed aluminum finish from top to bottom. It took me a moment to realize that the front door was plastic and not aluminum. So I have to say that Thermaltake has done a wonderful job with the finish. And the entire top of the case is covered with a fine mesh top filter panel. Through the mesh you can see a complex array of slots and holes, so I am curious to see what is beneath that top filter panel.

The focus of the Suppressor F51 is quiet operation along with cooling performance. It can handle a range of motherboards from a mini ITX to an E-ATX (extended ATX), and it provides space for custom liquid cooling systems. The fully modular design allows for graphics cards up to 465mm long.

The front door swings open to reveal two optical drive bays and a lower filter panel. The door itself is covered on the inside by a thick, spongy sound-deadening insert that keeps sound to a minimum. The door is normally held shut with three magnets concealed in the frame. At the bottom corner of the door is a small rubber latch that can be used to keep the door closed by attaching it to the case frame. This comes in handy when transporting the case and you want to make sure that the door won't accidentally come open. The hinge system on the door is firm and smooth, and there are three little rubber dampers embedded into the door frame edge that provide a nice cushion when you close the door. You can see that some thought went into the door design.

You may notice that the two optical drive bays are not at the very top of the case, but rather offset from the top, sitting just below a blank panel. This is intentional to allow space at the top of the case for a radiator up to 420mm long (just over 16.5 inches).

Here is a shot looking head-on at the front door. You have to see it in person to get the full effect. While it is plain, it does have an elegant feel. The rear of the case has three grommeted holes at the top for water cooling passage and below that is the included 140mm rear exhaust fan. There are mounting holes for a 120mm fan too. Below that are the eight expansion slots and a vent to the side, with the opening for the power supply at the bottom.

Looking down at the top of the case, you see the top facing I/O panel and a large top mesh filter panel. Now on the bottom are two filter panels that lock in place with a simple tab and detent system. Each panel slides out for easy cleaning. The feet have soft rubber inserts and yield just under an inch of clearance (air space) below the case floor.

A little better view of the case shows the large side window on one side and the solid panel on the other. The case is available without a side window if you like, but I really prefer to see all my hardware, so the larger the side window, the better. But the non-window panel does have a vent and option to mount a side fan.

The top of the case is covered with a removable mesh filter panel that has a narrow magnetic strip along the perimeter that keeps the filter panel firmly in place. The filter panel fits nicely into a recessed section of the top, so when it is installed, it sits just below the top surface. The fit and finish are spot on. The left image is of the filter panel by itself, and the right image is the case without the filter panel. It looks like there is a lot going on there, and in a way there is. The array of holes is of course for air flow, but there are also a variety of slots for fan and radiator mounting, as well as three factory-installed sound deadening panels, which we will see later.

The I/O panel is on top and has the large, square power button in the center. The perimeter of the button lights up with a blue LED glow when the power is on. To the left is a small red LED for hard drive activity, then the mic and headphone jacks, with two buttons for fan control at the end, which allow for two speeds and can control up to four fans. To the right of the power button sits the small square reset button. It is recessed a little to avoid accidental resets. To the right of the reset button are two USB 3.0 ports and finally two USB 2.0 ports. I like the top USB ports more than front facing ports because I am always a little paranoid that I will knock a flash drive out when I walk by if they stick out the front. The F51 has that problem covered. If the front looks wide, it is - coming in at nine inches.

Inside the chassis is the standard manual, bag with an assortment of screws, system speaker, and a few zip ties. Also included is a radiator mounting bracket that installs across the space occupied by one of the front optical drive bays. The instructions don't really talk about it, but you can see it in the radiator mounting illustrations. The manual has all the installation information laid out in an easy to follow format, along with all the radiator and fan support information.